Sherman: Expect Yanks To Get Lee, But Not At The Deadline

From Joel Sherman:
The Yankees are just one of many teams that have begun to proceed as if Cliff Lee — not Roy Oswalt — will be the prize of the July 31 trade market.

That means they have increased their scouting attention on a pitcher they already were following closely because he projects as the best pitcher of the coming free-agent class. Remember that the Yankees had a scout on almost every start CC Sabathia made in 2008 in anticipation of the lefty’s free agency after the season.

One AL executive went so far as to say last week, “I have no doubt that the Yankees will sign Cliff Lee.”

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But having their eyes on Lee does not mean the Yankees will be at the forefront of the derby come July 31.Sherman then goes on to mention three reasons why he believes the Yankees will wait until after the season to add Lee. Here's a summary of those reasons:
The Yankees would rather do the same thing they did with CC and wait until the offseason.

Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said “I hope we get back in this and that we have what we expected, Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee as a dynamic duo atop the rotation,” earlier this week. However, he then goes on to mention that they're 10 under .500 and last year they traded Jarrod Washburn when they were just 3.5 behind in the wild card race. He also says that "outside executives" believe Zduriencik is "much more likely to act

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